The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-07-13
LIFE IN THE DEEP SEA.
Curious 1stories of the Wonders of
Nature Revelations of the Dredge
and the Microscope.
[Corr. Hartford Courant.l


Like the North Pole tie ocean bottom is
completely sealed to the human eye; but we
can at least form an idea Of what there is
far down in the depths of the sea. A year
or two ago it was my fortune to be connect
ed with government expedition having for
its object the exploration Of ocean bottom,
and it will be my aim in this article to con-
yey an idea of what we learned. By means
of large rectangular iron frame with
long bag net behind we dragged the bed Of
the sea in depths of two or three miles be-
meath the surface and brought up wonderful
animals and rare treasures Some twenty
years or more ago few were so wild as to be-
lieve that any kind Of living matter could ex-
ist in the depths of the sea, and to most peo-
pie the finding of such life far beneath the
surface was as much a wonder as the finding
of sea-serpent would be to-day. 1t seems
remarkable that animals can live in the
deep sea where the pressure is many tons on
the square inch, but they are so loosely put
together that the pressure extends into all
parts Of the body and no i'll effects are felt
We live on the surface of the earth with a
pressure of fifteen pounds to the square inch,
but unless it was shown by experiments no
one WOulu kDOW III. 90 Will LllC duiultliS OIL
the ocean bottom, each bearing pressure as
great as that of an ordinary railroad engine,
none Of them are aware of the load they
carry, but they move as freely through the
water as do their brethren at the surface.
We were on the fish commission steamer
Albatross, a fine vessel, fitted up in the most
modern fashion and made especially for deep
sea dredging We made frequent trips far
out toward the Bermudas, where the ocean
waters extend downward to depth OF fully
So
scraped along in blind manner after what
ever we could find. 1t was the deepest
water that had ever been explored, and our
results were most wonderful. The bed of the
sea was found to be a mass Of dark blue,
very sticky mud, which when examined by
the microscope was found to be composed in
large measure Of the minute shells Of very
lovely organized animal with no common
name. but called scientifically Foraminifera
This mud existed everywhere, and curiously
enough, it is found TO be almost exactly the
same as the chalk cliffs Of England, differ
ing only in that it is still muddy. If a bit Of
chalk is examined with microscope 1t will
be found to be composed OF multitudes Of
beautiful shells. and there Is no doubt that
this ocean mud would form into chalk II II
could be exposed to the air. Each fine mud
dy particle Is the cast off remnant of an ami
mai that lived and died in the great depths
of the sea. Strange to say. these creatures
which build such beautiful shells are the
All the animals that we see in every day
life are built of millions Of tiny cells, but
these Foraminifera have but one. They
have no stomach, yet they can eat; without
nerves they feel; and without feet they
move When they wish to crawl along the
elastic wall of the cell is sent out into a sort
of thread and the liquid substance within
runs into the thread so that they move by
making temporary foot and then pouring
themselves into it. Their mode of eating Is
alco npqnliar In the of their mnfion
they strike against something which is good
to eat (and they can tell whether it Is or not
without tasting), then two threads are shot
out on either side Of the edible object and
the food particle Is completely surrounded.
The ends of the threads break open and are,
SO to speak, welded together, then the walls
surrounding the food particle disappear, and
as II by magic we find the food within the
body. Their power of forming temporary
mouth and destroying 1t the moment 1t is
formed is very remarkable, and l have
watched it again and again by the aid of my
microscope. These l0wly creatures often
build most beautiful and complicated homes.
l never tire of examining through the micro
| scope some bit of ocean mud, for in 1t am
| constantly finding some remarkable form Of
| she'll. They are often spined. sometimes
| they are as smooth and polished as the best
| glazed china ware at times they are pure
| white, then again they are banded and
| striped with every hue of the rainbow. Ii
seems pity that such beauties should be so
| small and hidden so far from eyes of men.
| On this great bed Of mud the most remark
| able creatures live in vast numbers. There
| are serpent-like star-fshes, beautiful branch
ing corals, ugly blue fishes, pure white sea
cucumbers, bright pink, purple and red sea
anem0nes, and a host of other creatures.
| The fishes are always strange and uncouth,
with huge mouths and stomachs all in one
but with the tail hardly noticeable. When
the fishes are brought to the surface their
| air bladdeTs and st0machs protrude from
their mouths, their eyes bulge out and the
| blood Is forced through the skin. Life has
been crushed out Of them by the sudden
| change of pressure, the gasses within having
burst the tissues and body walls asunder
| The tremendous pressure of the water was
we'll shown by lowering an empty bottle,
which was crushed to atoms.
| There is very curious deep sea animal al
lied to our interesting hermit or soldier
crabs. These fellows have soft and UNI
protected tail and one of the first moves
| after birth is TO rush about 1t Tor deserteu
sea snail she'll to cover their unprotected
| parts. This shell the hermit carries about
| wherever it goes, taking new one now aud
| then whenever it outgrows its old home
| This house moving is inconvenient, for as
| soon as the hermit exposes his soft tail to
! the gaze of his fellow crabs they are apt to
| give it a nip, and our hermit may find him
self tailless and hence of no use in this
world, for with the tail goes the stomach.